Philippines kicks off construction of mass rail transport system
Xinhua, April 20, 2016 Adjust font size:
The Philippine government with its private firm partner broke ground Wednesday the 69.30-billion pesos(1.50 billion U.S. dollars) mass rail transport system that is expected to help ease congestion in Metro Manila.
President Benigno S. Aquino III, who led the groundbreaking of Metro Rail Transit 7 (MRT-7) project, said the construction of the 23-kilometer mass transport system is expected to be completed in three to four years or operational by 2020.
He said MRT-7 could cater to 350,000 passengers daily and if the system would further be upgraded, the number of passengers could reach up to 800,000 everyday.
Fourteen stations will be constructed to link North Avenue in Quezon City, Metro Manila to San Jose del Monte in northern province of Bulacan.
A subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation will construct the project under the public-private partnership scheme and will operate the transport system under a 35-year concession agreement. Endit